Nightmare of Destiny
by DreamixAngel
Summary: Three friends accidentally enter the Inner World, but it's not the spiders that are the problem; it's the society that wishes to end their lives...
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

**A task**

The cave was silent, the only sound coming from the crackling flames in the torches on the walls. The walls were illuminated just enough for one to make out what's right in front him, but couldn't see past his own hand when outstretched. A large red carpet was spread on the floor, an altar in the middle of the cold room. The altar was constructed from the stalagmites of the cave, spikes adorning the upper half of the altar, a glass orb resting on top containing a small white object. The object was floating and looked like a very advanced technological key. There was a small yellow circle in middle of the upper half and the rest had an hourglass shape, green circles where the sides were indented.

Footsteps could be heard now, the sounds echoing of the darkened walls. They were soft steps, heading to their destination at a snail's pace, their owners covered in black cloaks. Walking in a line, the strangers headed toward the altar, the leader walking in front with a purple cloak.

The man went on his knees, the others following his action, and stretched his hands to the orb. He then held one arm in the air, bent at the elbow, and the other outstretched to the side.

"Light brings knowledge, knowledge brings compassion." He began chanting.

The others copied his actions and the chant could be heard echoing off the cave walls. The key began to glow and fade in rhythm to the strangers' chants. There was a flash of white light and the cloaked figures stopped, all now gazing at the woman above the orb.

She was wearing a dress of the purest white, her long and turquoise hair shining. Her eyes were closed and her hands were in the same position as the leader's. From behind were eight long, almost mechanical, spider legs; four on each side. All of the figures bowed lower and the leader talked.

"Oh, Spirit Oracle, the enemy has recently gained an upper hand in our battle. What are we to do?"

The woman lowered her hands and pointed to a wall, the figures following her hand. Circle upon circle began to appear on the walls, each one a different colour, in the form of a bigger circle. From the centre formed another circle, connecting itself with the other eight circles and the image glowed. Below formed a new image: insects with spears and opposed to them were spiders with people on them. Both sides were now battling, neither side winning. Eight spiders attacked the insects that kept growing in numbers. The battle took place in another circle, embedded in red, and there was a circle outside of the battle, embedded in blue. Suddenly, a ninth spider came from the blue circle and attacked from the air, wiping out the entire army of insects.

The images vanished, the circle stopped glowing and the woman vanished. The figures were talking among themselves about what they had just witnessed and the leader turned back to the orb.

"What are we to do?" a woman asked from behind him.

The man said nothing and turned to face his followers.

"We carry out the Spirit Oracles orders." He answered. "We are to find the ninth Spider Rider."

Muttering broke out at the order and another questioned the leader.

"Where are we to search?"

"The Outer World." The leader answered.

Gasps followed.

"But… We have never left the Inner World."

"Then that is what we shall do." The leader went on. "We are to search the Outer World for the person who will save us from the Invected threat. We leave at dawn."

The leader gazed over his followers, waiting for any reaction from his orders.

"We leave at dawn." A man repeated.

_Sorry it's so short, but I really couldn't make it longer. Five reviews will get an update from me…_


	2. Chapter 2

_To my reviewers:_

_echo.13.52.7: I'm glad to know you found this interesting_

_weirdsquirrelgirl: I doubt I'd be better since it took me so long just to update this!_

_Yaoichan18: It's awesome that you found this awesome!_

_Okami101: Here's your update and I'm glad you also found this interesting_

_My nameless Anonymous reviewer: I have noticed and I agree with it to a certain extent. Here's your update, since you said please!_

_Happy reading everyone and I'll see you all at the bottom!_

_#################_

**Chapter one**

**A story **

"_A long time ago, I was something most people would fear and yet appreciate. It was glorious to be this, having this feeling of being able to help others in need always made me feel special and unique."_

"_Unique, Pappa?"_

"_Yes, Pricilla. It means different than anyone else. That's how I felt: different."_

_Pricilla gazed at her father in fascination at the story he was currently recalling to her as they sat in their living room. Pricilla was sitting cross-legged on the ground, resting her head on her palms as her father told his tale across from her, leaning against the white couch._

"_I was something what people called a Spider Rider," Crilo continued. "Our job was to protect the people of place knows as the Inner World."_

"_Inner World, Pappa?" Pricilla asked, becoming more fascinated._

"_It is a world inside that of our own. Our God, if one could say that, was known as The Spirit Oracle. She was a beautiful young woman, much like your mother, with long turquoise hair and a long dress made from the purest material and was as white as light. She would keep balance in the Inner World, but struggled to do it. Thus, she created large spiders, all with different qualities and appearances to help her. Yet, she discovered that even they couldn't do it."_

"_Telling her stories again, Crilo dear?"_

_Pricilla and Crilo looked at the woman standing in the doorway, dressed in a long white dress._

"_Yes, Halina," Crilo replied and motioned for his wife to join them. "Pricilla asked and I thought I'd answer."_

_Halina gave a warm smile and walked over, sitting down next to Pricilla and Crilo continued._

"_The Spirit Oracle then decided to train warriors to fight when the time came for it. A dark race, the Invecteds, tried to claim the power of the Spirit Oracle for themselves and did everything they could. They created beings of untold power and attacked the temples of the Spirit Oracle mercilessly, trying to obtain objects that contained small amounts of her power. These were called Oracle Keys. They were white with a yellow orb in the middle and green orbs at the side. These keys were so small, they would fit perfectly in you hands, Pricilla."_

"_My hands?" Pricilla asked and looked at her small hands._

"_Yes, and there were five of these keys. The Invecteds constantly tried, but they never succeeded. Soon, a war broke out between the people and the Invecteds and the Invecteds were winning. They built a large monster, strong and powerful, and no one could find a weakness. The Spirit Oracle then chose to do something incredible: she told eight warriors and eight spiders to join together. Each warrior chose a spider and jumped onto its back, weapon in hand and determination in each set of eyes. The Spirit Oracle created what is known as a Manacle, a small piece the main colour of the spider that attached itself to the warrior's arm. Each had an orb at the bottom and eight white spear-like thorns at the sides."_

"_It sounds beautiful," Pricilla said dreamily, picturing it as best she could._

"_It is. In the middle it had a long rectangular form with a smaller rectangle and that was used to communicate with the spider. The warriors became something known as Spider Riders and they battled the Invecteds. What made this amazing was that the warrior and the spider's strength and power became one. This allowed them to defeat the Invecteds and to obtain victory. Ever since that day, the Invecteds and Spider Riders were enemies."_

"_It sounds wonderful, Pappa," Pricilla said, still with a dreamy look on her face._

"_Would you like to hear a secret?"_

_Pricilla's young and innocent face lit up and she nodded enthusiastically. Crilo smiled and stood up, mentioning for Pricilla to follow. Pricilla jumped up and ran after her father as Halina stood up and headed for the kitchen._

'_Perhaps at a different stage, you will tell her how we met…' she thought as she began preparations for lunch._

_Crilo led his cheerful daughter to his and his wife's bedroom, opening the door for Pricilla to enter first. The room was cream-coloured with a large bed standing against the wall. Paintings of people at parks and lakes adorned the walls, creating a relaxed and happy atmosphere. Two oak tables stood at opposite sides of the room, each with three drawers. _

_Pricilla stood to one side as Crilo opened one drawer and removed two objects, closing the drawer behind him. He turned around and walked to his waiting daughter, keeping his hands behind his back._

"_Pricilla, make a promise to me before I show you," Crilo said, bending to face her._

"_Promise?" Pricilla asked, tilting her head in curiosity._

"_You must tell me that you will not tell anyone about this, except for your mother. They will not take this well, Pricilla,"_

"_I promise, Pappa,"_

_Crilo smiled and removed his hands. As he held them before her, Pricilla's eyes widened as she gazed at the two objects. _

"Pricilla, are you paying attention?"

Pricilla jumped at the sudden and cold voice that grazed her ears and fell from her chair, causing her entire class to burst into laughter. She kept her head low, her face covered in a deep blush and muttered an apology.

"Really," Miss Crupert sighed. "Is History really that uninteresting to you, Pricilla?"

Pricilla was about to answer, but was saved by the bell and everyone quickly packed their things away. She stood up, packed her things and was about to leave when her teacher stopped her.

"Pricilla," she said in a comforting tone, unlike her usually stern voice and Pricilla turned around. "I know that you're still in pain, but please do not let it influence your schoolwork."

"Yes, Miss," Pricilla said softly and left, memories flooding back and tears slowly building up in her lime-coloured eyes.

Pricilla sighed as she reached her locker and gathered her books for anything that needed to be done. She placed her long, light-brown fringe behind her ear as she looked at the photograph of her deceased father, remembering his last words.

"We should invite Pricilla to come along, she'll love that,"

Pricilla was brought back from her memories at her friend's voice and turned to greet her.

"Hey, Amanda and Tanya. How's it going?"

"Wonderful, thanks for asking," Amanda answered, happiness shining in her bright blue eyes.

"You have no idea," Tanya sighed, looking tired.

"We have a secret to tell you," Amanda went on. "My family have decided to visit this old cave just outside of town. Since Tanya's parents already said she could come along, we thought we'd invited you, too!"

"Amanda," Pricilla said, closing her locker and turning around. "I would love to go, but I have to ask my mother first. You know how she feels…"

"We already did!" Tanya exclaimed, her deep-brown eyes shining with enthusiasm. "She said it would be fine. All you need to do, is pack for the weekend!"  
>Pricilla smiled, though the happiness never reached her eyes.<p>

"Also, there's a rumour about that cave," Amanda added in a soft and low voice, making it seem dangerous. "They say that there's a curse. Inside the cave is a hole that transports any who fall into it to another world where things aren't the way they are up here. They say that many people fell into it, but never returned…"

"Amanda, have you been watching those scary movies again?" Tanya asked, placing her hands on her hips.

The group burst out laughing at the silly idea, but Pricilla's mind wondered. Her father also mentioned this story to her and even backed it up, but she never really believed it. Pricilla pulled back the sleeve on her arm to look at the gift her father had given her in his final moments, making her renew her promise.

"_Pricilla, please, take good care of it. Do not let anyone have it."_

##############

_Sorry for taking so long to update, I had a difficult time deciding how to introduce the main characters for this story. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please, pretty please, pretty please with a cherry on top, leave a review. Knowing that people love this makes me want to write! _

_If any of you would like to add ideas to my story, please do. I'm always open to fresh ideas! _

_Merry Christmas and a happy new year! May God make this the best year you've had and bless you!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A special thanks to my three reviewers: wierdsquirrelgirl, echo.13.52.7 and a new reviewer, spidersendisup. This chapter is dedicated to you!_

**############**

**Chapter two**

**Caves and rumours**

"So, let me get this straight," Pricilla began, climbing the steep hill with much difficulty and trying hard not to slip. "You're telling me that he actually did it? After all this time, he finally did it?"

"Can you believe it?" Amanda asked, helping Tanya climb up. "It finally happened! We were so ecstatic when he did it, mom nearly fainted!"

"She didn't almost, she did, Amanda," Amanda's father corrected, already pulling ahead.

"I did not, Harold!" Amanda's mother shouted next to him. "I only faked it."

"Mom, you did faint," Amanda said. "I saw it. I just didn't want to embarrass you."

"Your father already did that," Tanya added.

Everyone laughed at Tanya's obvious observation. The three teens were wearing denims and sneakers with cool tops and shirts, each one with a back-pack filled with gear and refreshments. The two adults wore hiking clothes and shoes, each with the large back-packs on their shoulders.

"How much further?" Pricilla asked as they stopped, trying to catch her breath as she leaned on her knees.

"Two paces," Harold replied.

The three friends looked up to find a dark hole in a giant boulder covered in moss. Nothing else was around it except a brown, rocky landscape.

"This giant boulder?" Tanya asked, trying to find out if she heard right.

"That's just the entrance," Caroline answered, placing her hands on her hips. "The rest is underground."

"Underground? You mean to tell me that the entire cave is underground?"

"Yes, Tanya. Construction workers built stairs to take you down, because the only thing above it is the entrance."

"Afraid of the big bad spiders, Tanya?" Pricilla teased, walking past her to join Amanda's parents.

"N...No, just…cautious." Tanya replied, but the fear in her brown eyes couldn't be hidden.

"Of course you're not," Amanda said, grabbing Tanya's arm and leading her. "You're just afraid you might never see Deven again."

Tanya's face heated up at that sentence and everyone noticed, causing them all to laugh.

"Shall we?" Harold asked, gesturing to the cave.

Amanda took the lead, Tanya and Pricilla following closely with the two adults bringing up the rear. The cave itself was damp and cool, the only heat coming form lights workers placed on the ground.

"Continuing our last conversation," Pricilla started, carefully climbing down the many stairs. "How did Mary-Anne react?"

"She was ecstatic," Amanda answered. "She tackled him and just kept repeating 'yes' in every language she knew."

"You must've grown tired of hearing that," Tanya joined in. "She knows every language there is!"  
>"And can speak each fluently," Caroline added.<p>

"So… are we invited to the wedding?" Pricilla asked.

"Naturally," Amanda replied. "Mary requested that we all become her bridesmaids."

"As long as she doesn't have a long veil that we have to carry," Tanya sighed.

"I'm sorry to burst your lovely bubble, but she picked out her dress yesterday and asked for a veil about seven meters long."

Both Pricilla and Tanya groaned at that statement as the group continued descending down the stairs until they reached the bottom a few moments later. The group of five looked around the cave, helping their eyes adjust to the dim lighting and to see what was around them.

"I come here quite often with my team, so navigation shouldn't be much of a problem," Harold spoke up, placing his hands on his hips. "I truly can't remember actually finding anything in here except nothing."

"Does he always talk like that?" Pricilla whispered to Amanda, placing her hand in front of her mouth.

"Most of the time," Amanda whispered back as Tanya leaned in to hear. "My father works as an Archaeologist, remember? He told me that nothing was found here and he means it. They stopped searching a few weeks ago and it's now just a tourist attraction."

"But there's no one here except us," Tanya said.

"I know. We're early. The first tour begins at ten and it's just past eight now."

Breaking apart, each one looked at the walls with different interests.

"Do these walls contain any minerals or stones?" Pricilla voiced, walking over to one as she spoke.

"None so far," Harold replied. "We have cut at least fifteen meters deep and found nothing."

"Where?"

Harold walked over to a hole the size of a person's fist and Pricilla stopped next to him.

"Fifteen meters is quite a lot," Pricilla commented as everyone else joined them. "Are you sure you found nothing?"

"Positive," Harold answered, stepping aside so Amanda and Tanya could see. "All we found were rocks and rocks in rocks."

"But, Dad, shouldn't you have found at least something that has some value?" Amanda asked, inspecting the hole.

"We have found nothing but normal rocks. There aren't fossils, stones or anything except more rocks."

"Honey, you should show them The Hole," Caroline said. "I bet they'd like that."

"You mean the one Amanda told us was cursed?" Tanya asked, turning around.

"Yes, that one."

Harold sighed and walked off, Caroline trailing behind him.

"All these other holes are exits in case there's an emergency," Harold explained as they continued walking. "As we explored, it would take longer to reach the main opening and so we dug new ones as went along, making sure we don't disturb natural habitat or structure of the cave."

All three girls nodded and the group continued on.

"Why do I get this weird feeling something bad is going to happen?" Amanda asked, walking slowly.

"You told us about it and now you're afraid of it?" Pricilla asked as she and Tanya followed. "That's a shame, Amanda."

"Watch your step, girls!" Harold called back, still walking.

Pricilla was about to ask where when she slipped on the slippery slope. Hearing the loud and echoing thud, Caroline and Harold turned around, hoping that nothing bad has happened.

"I'm still breathing!" Pricilla said, slowly getting up and dusting herself off. "My butt hurts but I'm okay."

"Perhaps you girls should've put on hiking shoes after all," Caroline said, smiling.

The group laughed as Pricilla blushed and they continued to walk. Pricilla walked slowly up the slope, not wanting to slip again, Amanda and Tanya right behind her. They descended down more steep sloped, crawled through gaps and climbed even more stairs, both upwards and downwards.

"We're here," Harold announced as the group came to a halt in front of a large hole.

All three friends walked up to Harold's side and glanced down. Not too far from them was a large hole, a sign before it warning of danger. The hole itself could fit any size person with ease and Pricilla decided that it was now or never.

"So, what's down there?"

"No one knows, it's too deep," Harold replied, crossing his arms.

"Can't you…"

"We did but the rope broke without reason and we never saw him again."

An eerie silence filled the already creepy cave as they thought about the poor man's family.

"I must warn you girls if you get any closer," Caroline warned. "The ground around it isn't too stable and might easily crumble."

The three friends exchanged glances and Tanya shrugged before walking over to it. She stopped right in front of it and went on her knees, bending further down to get a better look.

"Huh," she said, tilting her head. "It doesn't look deep nor does it…"

Tanya stopped as the sound of the earth cracking open rang through the chilly air. Everyone looked around to see where it was coming from, until Pricilla noticed it.

"Tanya! Beneath you!"

Tanya looked down, but was too late and the once solid ground split and shattered beneath her. The crackling continued and the rest tried to back away as Tanya's screams echoed from the deep hole. More ground vanished beneath Amanda's and Pricilla's feet and Pricilla grabbed hold of the edge as Amanda grabbed her friend's ankle.

Caroline and Harold moved toward them slowly, not wanting to cause more harm, but Pricilla's grip loosened too much and both girls fell down. Caroline and Harold called after them, but went unheard as more screams filled the deep hole.

Soon the screams died down and Caroline fell to her knees, covering her face as tears came streaming.

"Amanda, our dearest Amanda," she cried as her husband came to comfort her.

"We will get a search crew down there and we'll find them, I promise," Harold said as he tightly held his weeping wife.

The ground started to rumble and started to become worse. Harold instantly knew what was wrong, so he picked up his wife and ran, carrying her bridal-style.

"An earthquake is causing this cave to collapse!" Harold said, running as fast as he could.

"Amanda!" Caroline protested. "We have to go back!"

The rumbling became louder, rocks began to fall and shatter the fragile ground beneath them and Harold just ran faster. He took one of the many emergency exits and reached the surface just as the entire cave was demolished.

Caroline fell on her knees and cried even harder, know knowing that she'll never see her daughter again.

"Corona, are you sure this is the right way?" a bored Hunter asked as he walked behind Corona, his hands behind his head and his pace slow.

"Of course, Hunter," Corona assured, walking with her fingers intertwined behind her back. "I've been through here much more than you have."

Hunter groaned but said nothing further as they walked through a field covered in flowers and luscious grass.

"Hunter," Corona went on in her usually happy and high-pitched voice, though not too high to make it sound squeaky. "These flowers were planted to honour the warrior who fought a long time ago. Each Rider in those days has a stone near the edges with their name carved into it. If you look from the sky, you'll see that the entire field is in the shape of a spider."

No response came from behind her, but she ignored it and continued.

"Each leg from the spider is a different colour and that represents the colour of the spider the specific rider had. Some of Arachna's bravest warriors came from them but today's Riders aren't nearly as brave, take Igneous for example. You still remember when we met the Lost Mariner? Igneous kept bragging about how he can fight off any ghost but when they appeared, he trembled."

Corona's giggles at the memory went unnoticed by Hunter, who still hadn't said anything.

"Hunter, are you even paying attention?" Shadow asked from inside Hunter's dark-blue Manacle. Hunter's only reply was a light snore, telling Shadow that he was sleepwalking. "Why do I even bother?"

"Corona, you have to remember why we are here," Corona's spider, Venus, said from within Corona's red Manacle.

"I didn't forget, Venus," Corona replied, still walking. "Lily* told us that she saw three people from earth entering the Inner World and that one of them is a Spider Rider. She also told us that they were going to land here somewhere."

As if to answer her words, screams were heard as well as loud thuds. Hunter woke from his light sleep at the sudden sound and Corona gasped.

"That must've come from the forest!" Hunter said, looking right at the forest ahead of them.

"Let's go," Corona said as she ran ahead, Hunter following behind.

############

*Lily – Lily is Arachna's seer. She appeared at the beginning of the first series, if I remember correctly. That's also what the Internet said.

_Aren't you all happy that I updated? Anyway, I was very disappointed. I only received three reviews. That is just the worst insult I ever received! So please, if you are reading this, please review. Reviews gets me writing, me writing gets faster updates and faster updates make you all happy. _

_See? One cycle triggers another, so no reviews gives no updates. Thanks for reading!_


	4. Chapter 4

_**This chapter is dedicated to all my reviewers! Enjoy!**_

**Chapter three**

**The Inner World**

"Oh, my head…" Amanda groaned, rubbing her aching skull. "That was quite a fall…"

"You can say that again…" Tanya added, slowly getting up so she didn't lose her balance.

"That was quite the fall…"

"This place is making me dizzy…" a dazed Pricilla said, holding her head.

All three landed in the forest, its luscious blue grass and trees closing off any sight of the outside. The little light only made the woods seem more eerie than it actually was it shone through the leaves.

"Think we kicked the bucket?" Pricilla asked, shaking her head to get rid of the dizziness, but only succeeded in making it worse.

"No, Hell's supposed to be much more slippery and covered in orange goo…" Tanya answered.

"The blue merry-go-round looks like fun," Amanda said, getting up. "But it's going slower…"

As the pain slowly subsided and the forest came into focus, each girl had to blink several times to make sure what she was seeing was real. Pricilla stood up but was still slightly dizzy so she fell on her butt. Tanya helped Amanda up and the two looked at their surroundings.

"I must be crazy," Amanda said. "All I see are blue trees, blue grass and a…"

Amanda's mouth dropped as she shifted her gaze to the sky above her. An enormous ball of fire was above her and the sky itself was tinted in orange and purple.

"Where…are…we?" Tanya asked as she, too, saw the sky above.

Pricilla finally succeeded in standing up and looked up.

"I think…The Inner World…" Pricilla answered.

"The what?" the other two asked simultaneously, looking at their friend in shock.

"My father told me about a place deep within earth called The Inner World. Its sun is the ball overhead and the sky is different than ours. Everything here is different than on Earth," Pricilla continued, looking around. "But I never pictured it like this…"

Looking around, the three tried to take in all the things that were around them: the birds singing, the coloured plants, the sky above and even the air.

"Aahhhhhhhh!" Pricilla suddenly screamed, jumping back and slipping, ending on her bum again. "Spider!"

Tanya and Amanda quickly ran over to her side, wanting to know where it was. A small pink spider was sitting on the brown trunk of a large tree, its web made up of silver.

"That's a first…" Tanya said, looking at their visitor. "A pink spider that can shoot silver threads."

"Get rid of it! Get rid of it!" Pricilla screamed, etching away, her lime-green eyes showing more fear than usual.

"I think it's cute," Amanda said, leaning closer and tucking a stray black bang behind her ear. "Do you think it's poisonous?"

"Hey! Are you okay?"

The friends' attention was turned behind them as two people approached. Corona, a teenage girl with blonde hair tied into a ponytail and orange earrings, while the other was Hunter, a teenage boy with red hair in various directions and bangs to frame his face. On his head was a white band with four green orbs.

"We saw you falling and we came to see if you're okay," Corona said, sounding very worried.

"We're fine, thanks," Tanya said. "But I don't think Pricilla is…"

The two turned toward the girl on the ground, whose eyes were still on the pink spider. Following her gaze, Hunter found the spider.

"Oh please, it's just a spider…" Hunter said, walking past them to inspect it at a closer range.

"I'm Amanda, this is Tanya and that is Pricilla," Amanda introduced, motioning to each in turn.

"My name's Corona and that's Hunter," Corona said. "Where did you come from, anyway?"

"We fell through this hole in a cave we were exploring and ended up here," Amanda explained and Tanya nodded, Pricilla still gazing, paralysed, at the spider.

"You came from the surface?" Hunter asked, turning around. "So did I."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I was exploring a temple when a Manacle strapped itself to my arm and then the temple collapsed. All I remember after that was falling through this type of vortex and I ended up here."

"A what?" Tanya asked.

"Manacle," Corona answered and showed the red Manacle on her arm as Hunter showed his blue Manacle. "These are proof that we're Spider Riders."

"Spider Riders?"

"Yeah," Hunter said, walking up to them. "We're warriors that ride huge spiders to fight evil."

"H…huge…sp…spiders?" Pricilla finally voiced, but now she seemed even more frightened.

"Yeah, but don't worry. They're completely harmless,"

Pricilla gulped and pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she rocked back and forth.

"There's no such thing, there's no such thing…" she said to herself, tears slowly forming in her eyes as she closed them shut.

"Uh oh," Amanda voiced, slowly starting to panic. "Pricilla's gone into Panic Mode."

Corona and Hunter stared at Pricilla as she began to cry and constantly kept repeating that she didn't want to die, almost screaming it. Amanda ran to Pricilla and bent, trying to calm Pricilla down while Tanya's attention was focused on their visitors.

Hunter was dressed in brown shoes and white socks, blue trousers and a white shirt with a red sleeveless jacket. Corona was dressed in a white sleeveless top with an orange orb near her throat, black stockings and a pink skirt. Her shoes seemed to be part of the stockings with an orange orb on each foot.

"Are your clothing the norm down here?" Tanya asked. "It looks really cool."

"Thanks!" Hunter answered. "But mine's from Earth."

Tanya nodded and returned to Pricilla. Pricilla took a deep breath and calmed herself before finally opening her eyes.

"Sorry, I can't help it," she apologized shyly.

"It's alright," Corona comforted, "Anyway, why don't you all come back to Aracna?"

"Yeah! I bet the Lumen would love to meet you!" Hunter added excitedly.

"Sure," Amanda agreed, nodding her head. "As long as we get out of this place."

"Prince Lumen?" Pricilla asked, getting to her feet.

"Yeah… Hey! How'd you know Lumen's a prince?" Hunter asked and he eyed her with suspicion.

"Huh? I didn't say anything about anyone being a prince…" Pricilla quickly defended.

Pricilla shifted her gaze to the ground while Hunter and Corona continued to stare at her, even Amanda and Tanya stared in shock.

"Maybe it's the concussion talking." Amanda said, turning to Corona. "It makes sense…"

Corona gave a smile and a nod in agreement while Hunter continued to stare at her.

'_How did she know?_' was Hunter's last thought before Corona dragged him by his arm back to Aracna.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A black-hooded being was running through the dimly lit corridors to find his leader's room. This was an urgent matter that needed his immediate attention. Finding it, he knocked urgently.

"Enter."

The man burst through the room, his eyes wide.

"Sir, something has come up!" he shouted more than said. "Another spider rider has appeared!"

"Really?" the man replied, his back to his visitor as he sat in front of an altar.

The room was lit with crackling fires aligning the brown walls and the altar was the only furniture in the room. The man stood up, placed an orb on the altar and turned to his guest.

"Where is he now?"

"Sir, it's a female and she has been escorted to Aracna." The visitor answered.

"Good. Please send a message to Prince Lumen telling him that we will visit soon. We have important matters to discuss as the circle is finally complete."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_**Sorry for the long wait and for it being short, but that's the best I could do. I might edit this later on, but don't get your hopes up. Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review, anonymous or not.**_


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